By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
LEXINGTON — It looked like the wait was finally over when Ryle took a 14-0 lead against Louisville Trinity in the first quarter of the Class 6A football championship game on Saturday at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.
The fast start put the Raiders in position to win their first state title against the premier program in Kentucky. Trinity came into the game with a 28-4 record in state championship games that included a 41-7 victory over Ryle in the 2006 Class 4A final.
But Trinity kept its winning tradition intact by outscoring Ryle in each of the final three quarters to come away with a 42-23 victory.
The Shamrocks carried off their 29th championship trophy and are now 5-0 in title games played against Northern Kentucky teams.
“We came here and we thought we had a chance to win it,” said Ryle coach Mike Engler. “Hats off to Trinity. They made some good adjustments to win the football game. But, you know what, I’m proud of our football team. We’re pretty young and I think we’ve got a chance to be back here next year.”
The Raiders had eight starters on offense and six on defense who are underclassmen. One of them is junior Jacob Savage, a two-way player who led the team in rushing yardage (1,085), points scored (158) and tackles (140) this season.
“This hurts really bad,” Savage said after the season-ending loss. “I know me personally and everybody on our team who’s coming back will do anything possible to come back to this moment and come out on top.”
Ryle took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of touchdown passes from junior quarterback Nathan Verax to senior wide receiver Landon Lorms. The first one was a 27-yard strike to Lorms in the end zone. On the second one, Lorms leaped over a defender to make the catch and raced down the sideline to complete the 55-yard scoring play.
Those two plays accounted for 82 of the Raiders’ 154 yards in the opening quarter. Trinity was limited to 16 yards in that period, but the Shamrocks got their act together and tied the score by halftime.
“Our guys have done what we’ve done all year,” said Trinity coach Jay Cobb. “When we get behind, we don’t hit the panic button. We just kept playing, and when you do that good things will happen.”
The comeback started when Ryle turned the ball over on downs at the Trinity 32-yard line after picking up a first down on a fake punt run by senior Jaden Galicia.
The Shamrocks then marched 68 yards in 10 plays and scored their first touchdown on a 5-yard run by Jamaurion Berry on a fourth-down play with 3:48 left in the first half.
Those two possessions had an impact on the direction of the game. Instead of Ryle scoring and possibly taking a 21-0 lead, Trinity was able to make it 14-7.
“Well, I think if we were up 21-0 it’s a big difference,” coach Engler said. “But hats off to them. They made plays when they had to make plays.”
Trinity tied the score, 14-14, on a 30-yard slant pass from Zane Johnson to Mason Scherer that capped an 82-yard drive late in the second quarter. Ryle’s offense was limited to 66 yards on three possessions during that period.
“I think it was more the way they played their outside linebackers, shooting them outside,” Engler said of the problems the Raiders had moving the ball. “They were very good at what they did.”
In the third quarter, a 39-yard field goal by junior Gavin Moses put Ryle ahead, 17-14. But Trinity responded with an 80-yard scoring drive that ended with Jason Hagan getting behind the Ryle secondary and catching a 40-yard pass in the end zone.
That gave the Shamrocks a 21-17 lead going into the fourth quarter and they put the game away with a 21-0 scoring run in the final period. Two of those touchdowns came on pick-six interceptions by Caleb Ricks and Bailey Vance.
“We just had to go out and win the second half and obviously we didn’t do that,” Savage said. “We made mistakes and lost the turnover battle, which we knew coming into the game if we lost that it would be hard to come out on top.”
Ryle was able to tack on a touchdown in the final minutes of the game. After a 56-yard pass from Verax to Dylan Lee moved the ball to the 4-yard line, Lorms caught his third TD pass of the game.
Verax ended up completing 14 of 36 passes for 269 yards and the Raiders netted 89 yards on the ground for a 358 total. Trinity had 336 total yards with sophomore quarterback Zane Johnson going 18-of-24 for 195 yards and the team rushing for 141 yards.
Lorms had nine catches for 147 yards in his final high school game for the Raiders. He ended the season with 57 catches for 958 yards.
“I’m just proud of the year,” Lorms said. “Hopefully, our boys will come back and get it next year. You couldn’t ask for better teammates. You couldn’t ask for a better coaching staff. We just built a family, for sure.” I’ll love these guys forever.”
RYLE 14 0 3 6 — 23
TRINITY 0 14 7 21 — 42
R — Landon Lorms 27 pass from Nathan Verax (Gavin Moses kick)
R — Lorms 55 pass from Verax (Moses kick)
T — Jamaurion Berry 5 run (Carson Hilbert kick)
T — Mason Scherer 30 pass from Zane Johnson (Hilbert kick)
R — Moses 39 FG
T — Jason Hagan 40 pass from Johnson (Hilbert kick)
T — Caleb Ricks 35 pass interception return (Hilbert kick)
T — Berry 11 run (Hilbert kick)
T — Bailey Vance 15 pass interception return (Hilbert kick)
R — Lorms 4 pass from Verax (run failed)
RECORDS: Ryle 12-3, Trinity 13-2.
We are a Trinity family all the way. I will never get used to getting behind to our opponents by 14 or more points in the first half. Ryle was one outstanding football team. Their fans,
Students, and administration should be very proud . I have a strong feeling we will meet again in next years finals.